Maura & Rick vs The world
by wootutoo
Summary: When 14 year-old Maura, a loner straight-A student how didn't know how to have fun, meets 16 year-old Richard, the popular good-for-nothing rebel who was about to get expelled from the boarding school, an odd friendship starts to blossom. Castle/RandI. I do not own any of the characters, they belong to A.W. Marlowe and T. Gerritsen. Rated T because I rather be save than sorry
1. Vs Detention

So, I was supposed to write an essay about Euthanasia and this came to my mind, not weird at all.

This is a Castle/RandI crossover, but I don't believe in the "crossover" tag, so I'll be switching it between the Castle and the RandI tags.

Hope you'll like it! I surely loved writing, not only this but some fragments of upcoming chapters.

Hugs,  
Anna

* * *

It was a beautiful day outside, probably the last warm day before winter, and Richard Alexander Rodgers was not enjoying it like the rest of the students because he was on detention. He didn't do anything, that was precisely what had gotten him into detention; doing anything. The boarding school's principal had given him an ultimatum, he either got an A on his next term paper or he would be expelled.

He rested his head on the table that was in front of him. He hated this boarding school, but he couldn't bear to see the disappointment on his mother's face if he got expelled, again. It was so hard to live on his mother's spotlight, everyone expected at least some kind talent from the son of a Broadway diva. Truth was Richard was a good for nothing, he didn't know how to sing, how to act, how to write, how to do anything other than having fun, of course.

The sound of the door made Richard to raise his sight. It was not very common for kids from the boarding school to end up in detention; in fact Rodgers was the founder and only member of the Detention Club. A blonde girl entered the room, her curls bounced as she walked towards the teacher.

Richard knew her. Well, he knew who she was, but he had never actually talked to her. People called her "Maura, The-Bore-A". And the fact that she was on detention must be a mistake. Of all the people on the boarding school, Maura Isles was the last person someone would expect on detention. She was a straight A student, she was good at sports, and most important, she was a loner so no one could talk her into do something against the rules.

"Miss Isles. I'm pretty sure there has been a misunderstanding." The teacher that was in the room said. "This is the detention room."

"I'm aware of that." Maura said. The teacher looked at Richard, he looked more puzzled than his student. "I dissected my roommate's hamster." The girl said giving the yellow detention card to the teacher.

Richard looked at her. That was the second unexpected thing about Maura, and she had been in the room for less than 30 seconds.

"Go ahead, judge me." She said sitting next to him and crossing her arms. "Everyone does anyways '_you are the only daughter of a wealthy family, you can't behave like that_' or '_that is not very lady-like'_"

Richard was stupefied. He could relate to her and the pressure she had on. Who knew he and Maura, The-Bore-A, could have something in common?.

"I have also heard that before." He said. Maura looked at him. "Not the lady-like thing... But having to meet everyone's expectations just because your parents are known people."

Maura looked at him; her look was not a judging one but she was studying him. Did he really try to make her feel better? She had heard a great deal of things about Richard Alexander on the hallways, and they were not good things. Then again, she knew people talked behind her back as well; they only talked to her when they had to work in pairs, it was the only time of the day when she was not Maura, The-Bore-A but Maura, My-Ticket-To-Get-An-A.

"What do you want?" She said, going straight to the point. No one was nice to her if they didn't want something in return.

"To be nice..." The boy replied confused. No wonder why people thought she was weird.

"Are you going to be nice just while we are on the detention room, or also when we are free to go?" Maura asked again, Richard knew that was a sincere question. He bet it was hard for her, not having friends at all.

"Don't get too attached because I'll be leaving after the term." He replied. He didn't see no harm on being friends with her for a couple of weeks, after all he'd be gone by christmas.

"Why are you leaving?"

_God, didn't she ever get tired of asking questions?_ He thought.

"Because I have to get an A on my next paper, and I'm not even going to try to get it." He replied calmly and put his head on the table, like it had been before Maura entered the room.

He could feel the time passing, getting wasted; minutes that would never come back. He could also feel Maura changing positions on her chair, she was reading a book; Richard knew that because the teacher had suggested him to 'spend his time on detention as productively as Maura'.

"Well, Kids!" The teacher said out of the blue. "That's all for today, see you tomorrow."

He left the room quickly, it was no secret that the teachers hated supervising the detention room. It was a greater punishment for them than for Richard.

Richard waited for Maura to pick up her stuff before leaving the room. Being friends with her until he was expelled was a promise he could keep. They walked in silence through the hallways, some students looked confused when they saw Richard and Maura walking side by side; they made an odd pair for sure. The weird loner straight-A student and the popular good-for-nothing rebel.

"This is me." Maura broke the silence when they reached the House of Stuart's door.

The boarding school's students were divided in four houses; Stuart and Tudor were for girls and Windsor and York were for boys. Some kids were 4th or 5th generation of student on a particular house and it was some kind of familiar tradition to try to make their house excel, that was not Richard's case. He was first generation on the school and he had got into the Windsor house, he had no pride on that, and he didn't think the Windsor House was proud on being the house of the Detention Room's founder.

"Hey, I've been thinking." Maura turned on her heels to face Richard. "If you want I can write your paper."

"Why would you do that?" He asked confused.

"You are the first person to be nice since I was admitted into this boarding school." The blonde girl looked her her shoes. She hated to admit she was a loner, but it was the truth. "I'll do it just this time, to give you a head start..."

"A head start for what?" This girl confused him.

"A head start to become a responsible student."

Richard let a laugh out. Now that was a good joke!. Who knew Maura could be funny?. But she was not laughing, she had the most intimidating pokerface Richard had seen.

"Wait, are you serious about this?"

"Deadly serious. Goodnight, Rick." She said and entered into her house.

Richard stayed there looking at the door. His mind kept replaying the last seconds, Maura was going to make him a responsible student?. Maura believed in him?. Great, another person he will eventually let down.

He kicked a rock and headed to the Windsor House.


	2. Vs the Bouncer

Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites! :)

* * *

A knock on the door woke Maura up. Her room as dark as the night could be. It was not normal for her to have visit at this time; it was not normal for her to have visits at all. For a moment she thought it was her imagination. Maura stayed still on her bed, then she heard it again. The girl turned the lights on and walked towards the door. She half opened it to see what was it; in the last boarding school she opened the door once and someone threw her a water balloon, straight to the face.

On the other side of the door frame was Richard, with a smile on his face.

"Let me in already, sleepy head!" He said pushing gently the door and passing by her. The boy sat in Maura's chair. "I see your roommate left."

After Maura dissected the hamster, her roommate had ask for a room change. And now Maura had a room for herself and no one to talk to. Except Rick, which reminded her.

"What are you doing here? We can get in trouble. It's way past curfew time."

"We have a curfew time?" He asked with a genuine tone of surprise, she rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm here because I have a surprise for you." He put his hand on his jacket and took some papers out of it. "We are going to the Rolling Stones concert!" He said showing her the tickets.

"Rodgers, we can't leave the campus."

"Sure we can. Plus, no one will notice. We'll be in bed before supervisors wake up." He promise her.

"Don't we have to be over age to enter to these kind of things?" She said after considering it for a while.

"That's the second part of your surprise present!" He handled her a card. It was a fake ID. 'Maura Doyle' said her fake identification card. It even sounded nice, _Doyle_.

"What's your name?" Maura said reaching his fake ID 'Richard Castle'. "Has a ring to it."

"I know, right?" He said proud of his master piece.

Her eyes returned to the fake document she had in her hands, did he really go through all the trouble to get her a fake ID just to take her to a Rolling Stones concert?. She checked the birthdate of her fake self.

"Oh, it's my birthday!"

"Yeah, and this is your birthday present. Common, let's go!"

"But… I don't know…" Maura was a 14 year old girl who would never pass as overage. Not even Richard looked like he was 18.

"Come on! Don't you want to have wild stories to tell to your kids when you grow old?" He asked her with enthusiasm in his voice. "And a good story never starts with 'That time I stayed at school, like a good girl…'"

He was right. And it was the Rolling Stones! Plus, what was the worst thing that could happen? The bouncer wouldn't let them in and they would have to return to school.

"Let me get dressed." She said as a grin appear on his face.

Richard had everything already planned, like he already knew that she would agree on going. He had stolen a horse from the school's stables; they road the animal up till the street, where a taxi was waiting for them.

"Horses always find their way home." Said Rodgers as he let the animal free.

The taxi driver knew Richard already, she wondered how many times had he done this already, maybe he had done it with other girls as well; Rodgers had a womanizer reputation, not that Maura thought he would take an advantage on her, no one had ever liked her in that way.

The line was endless at the stadium where the concert was about the take place, Maura had never seen so many people lined up. They reached the entrance door cutting the line; Richard started talking with someone that was almost at the beginning like they were childhood friends, he introduced Maura as '_the birthday girl!_' and she was immediately included into their group. So this was what having friends felt like, Maura wondered. The group people that they were talking to passed by the bouncer with no problem.

"Who were they?" Maura asked Richard while she and Rodgers gave the man on the entrance their tickets and IDs.

"I have no idea, but they were _high_ an I didn't feel like doing the line." Rick said smiling at her. Maura admired his ability of talking to people, whenever she started talking, people got bored of her.

"You don't look 18." The bouncer pointed out looking at Maura's ID

"That's because she just turned 18!" Richard argued.

'_No that's because I'll turn 15 in 4 months._' Maura thought.

"Common, man! It's THE Stones! Are you really going to bounce us?" Did he just confess to the bouncer that we were not over age? How stupid could Rodgers be?

But the bouncer didn't seem to agree with Maura's thoughts. He was actually thinking it. The girl wondered how many times did Richard get away with murder. It was hard to say no to someone with Rick's grin. That grin only meant '_we'll get in trouble, but we won't say you were involved_.'

"Here, buy yourself a beer after this is over." Rodgers handled a few bucks to the bouncer.

Was he bribing the bouncer? Her heart started to pump faster. Richard Rodgers was trouble.

'_Calm down,_' she thought '_You can't get arrested for bribing a doorman._'

The bouncer didn't accept the money but let them in.

"Don't get yourself in trouble, kid!" He had said while Richard passed triumphant next to him. Truth was trouble followed Richard everywhere he went; he didn't look for problems, but problems seemed to find him.

"I can't believe you wanted to bribe him!" Maura said. Her heart was accelerated.

"He's a bouncer, not the police. Can you relax and enjoy?" Richard said.

The two friends walked as close as they could get to the stage, they were couple of meters away from it. Little by little the stadium started to fill, up to the point were not even a soul could fit in. The environment was amazing; everyone was anxious, singing and talking about the band and when the lights when down the stadium almost collapse in ovation.

"Well, Mau; happy faux-birthday!" Richard said and passed his arm around her shoulders.

Maura didn't know what having fun with a best friend felt like; she never had a best friend, not even close to it. But having Rodgers's arm around her shoulders and singing with him and hundreds of people to 'Paint it Black.' felt amazing. This was going to be for sure one of her best memories for life.


	3. Vs Abandonment

So, guys... here is the third chapter!

I just wanted to point out that even though their friendship will look like _more-than-a-friendship_ in couple occasions,Maurick will never happen - at least in this fic - I already wrote the final chapter - which is not coming any time soon, but - they are not going to end up together nor hook up nor anything, I simply love Caskett too much to do something like that :P

Hugs.

Oh, and A/N: before someone gets offended, I don't share Rick's opinion about the boarding school's sports :)

* * *

The weather outside was cloudy and cold; for once Rick was grateful to be on detention, otherwise, he would have to be training polo. God, he hated that sport; why did he enroll to start with? Oh, right, his mother had told him that it would be good to do some physical exercise and this school didn't have normal sports like basketball or soccer; they had lacrosse, polo, cricket, fencing, and all those boring snobbish sports.

The opening of the detention room's door brought Richard's attention back.

"You again, Miss Isles?" The detention supervisor exclaimed.

Isles ignored the teacher's words and walked towards the seat next to Rick's desk. She rolled her eyes at his grin and drop her bag on the floor, next to her chair.

"You know, you don't have to come to detention to spend time with me..." He joked.

"Do you think this is about you?" Maura looked at him. Her eyes were burning with fury.

"Someone is cranky today, I can see you didn't sleep enough." Richard Rodgers clearly didn't know that playing with fire was dangerous.

"I was so tired because of yesterday's gig that I overslept." She said, he didn't understand why the big fuzz. "This is the first class I've skipped. In my whole life!"

"Then why do you make such a big deal out of it?"

"My parents are coming before midterms, I need to have a perfect report card."

"Oh, common. Is not like they'll love you less. You are their daughter after all."

Maura looked down. Truth was she was not their daughter, but no one knew that. She had always been too embarrassed to admit that her biological parents had abandoned her. But with Rick it was different, somehow she felt she could trust him.

"I'm adopted." She let out, those words surprised him. His eyes were wide open. "I've been always afraid that I'm not good enough. That's why I try so hard. I want them to see me and say 'we are so proud we adopted her'."

"I think you are more than enough." Richard tried to cheer her up. But Maura didn't react to that. She kept her eyes fixed on her hands. "If it makes you feel better, my father left us too." Maura's eyes met Richard's; she felt his pain, hidden behind that fake smile.

Being abandoned by a parent was something that only a person in the same situation could understand. It was not like being an outcast on school, or having a fight with your best friend. Being abandoned by a parent meant that one of the two people that should always be by your side, the people who should love you no matter what, had bailed on you. She never expected someone to understand why she felt so alone, so left out; but there he was, in the same situation she was.

"I know what you are feeling, Maur." He told her.

Richard was not honest to many people, but he felt like he had to be honest with her, especially in this moment. Behind that tough look that Maura gave to everyone, there was a insecure young girl.

"Do you ever wonder, what is your father like?" Maura asked shyly, without making eye contact. She never had anyone with whom she could talk this kind of things. Rodgers nodded. "Do you want to meet him?" The answer was negative this time. "Why?"

Rodgers looked at her. The answer was going to sound stupid and immature, but he spoke his thoughts anyway.

"Because in my head my dad is a spy or an astronaut, and I'm afraid that meeting him will ruin that illusion." Maura frowned, she was not judging but taking his point of view in consideration. "What about you, do you want to meet your real parents?

"Sometimes..." She admitted more to herself than to Rick. "I just want to look them in the eyes and ask them '_why?'_"

"_Why_ what?"

"_Why_ did they leave me?" she replied with glassy eyes.

Richard Rodgers had never felt bad for anyone that was not himself, or his mother; but he felt bad for Maura. And in that moment he swore that he'd protect her like the little sister he never had, and he'd make sure to make Maura's life as good as he could. At least while they were both on the same boarding school.

* * *

On a sad note, I won't be uploading until next month. I have two difficult subjects/tests coming soon and if I fail my mom is going to take my computer away (yeah, I'm a university student who still gets grounded because of bad grades...)

Take care of yourselves and see you in a month or so!

Anna


	4. Vs Horseback Riding

I'm not dead, guys! :)

Thanks for favorite-ing, following, reviewing and reading!

Enjoy

Anna.

* * *

It was saturday afternoon and Maura was, as usual, sitting on her favorite place at the library. Rick knew that because for the past three weeks she had dragged him into that place to study with her. When Rick had agreed to be friends with Maura, and improve his grades, he never thought it would go this far.

Spending a saturday on the library, what a waste. The boy signed.

"Do you have problems with that math problem?" The girl with blond curls asked. Rick looked at her, clearly confused. "You've been staring at it for more than ten minutes." She pointed out and returned to her lecture.

"It's not that," he replied. "I was wondering if we could do something different..."

Maura thought about what Rick had just said. Like if there was something more to do on a saturday.

"Something different," she muttered turning the page of whatever she was reading now. "Like what?"

"Something fun, for a change" Rick let out as if it was obvious. "You never do fun things."

"I dissected a bug once!" She defended herself.

"Your definition of '_fun' _needs a readjustment." Rick pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

Maura was definitely different than the rest of the girl he had met, actually, she was completely different than anyone he had ever met. Not that he really cared, it was nice to meet someone completely natural for a change. Maura was exactly the opposite of what society expected a social butterfly to be; except for the grades part, Maura had blunt opinions and a strange range of hobbies and she didn't care to stand up for her beliefs. Even if it meant that it was she against the world.

"I have an idea." He started saying.

"I think I'll never like how that sounds." Maura declared, not raising her sight from the book she was reading. He rolled his eyes.

As Maura had her mind set on turning Richard into a straight-A student, Richard had his mind set on turning Maura into a party beast. Well, maybe not a party beast, but maybe someone more enjoyable. However, Richard knew he had to take baby steps on this process, his plan would be a long and hard track, but the outcome would be positive for everyone. Maura needed to learn how to enjoy life.

"Why don't we go horseback riding?" He proposed, it was not what he had in mind at the beginning, but he knew Maura would agree with something like that.

Maura didn't reply to Rick's idea, which was weird since she always had to comment on everything. He knew she had heard and she didn't bother to give an answer. But Richard Rodgers was not a man who gave up easily, he started asking over and over again if they could go horseback riding. After bothering Maura for a time she broke her silence.

"I don't know how to ride." She was clearly embarrassed.

"Yeah, right." Rick joked, Maura's face turned red. He had never seen her blushing. "Wait, are you serious?"

"Are you going to make fun of it?" She replied, clearly distressed.

"No, I'm just happy I get to teach Maura-Know-It-All something for a change." He replied with a grin in his face. "Common, wise girl. Moving!"

Without her consent, Richard Castle grabbed Maura by her elbow and dragged her to the stables.

Of all the smells in the world, Rick loved how the school's stables scent. It was not because of the horses, they smelled disgusting; but because of the five big cherry trees that were next to the stables. God, how he loved that smell. Even during fall the cherry tree smelled amazing.

Although it was a cold fall day, the sun was shining on the sky and there was no sign of clouds. It was the perfect day to go for a ride.

He walked towards a pony and put the reins on her.

"Here," the boy gave the reins to the girl. "She's a sweetie, you won't have problems with her."

Before Maura could say something, Rick turned to get a bigger black horse. He said something to the horse while he patted him gently and put the reins on him.

"Blackie is mine," he explained. "It was the only bribe that my mom could think of, it was the only way I agreed to come to this school." Rick looked proud of it.

"With all the marvelous names you could put to a beautiful black horse, you decided to call him '_Blackie_'?"

"I had other choices in my mind." Rick admitted. "But Blackie was the one I liked the most."

"Like?" Maura asked, as if it couldn't exist any name worst than 'Blackie'.

"Dog."

"What kind of idiot calls a horse 'Dog'?" Maura didn't even know what to comment about the poor naming abilities Richard had.

"Exactly." He grinned.

If she would own a Black Horse she would have called him Pegasus or Hippocampus. Something with meaning, something powerful.

Getting Maura on the horse was not a problem at all, she learned faster than what Richard had expected.

Getting her to gallop was another story. She probably said '_I'm going to fall._' and '_I'll kill myself_.' more than hundred times. By the time Maura caught a decent riding tempo it was already too late and they had to go back; it Maura's suggestion, of course, Richard couldn't care less about the school's rules.

"I had fun today." She admitted as they walked back to her house.

"Just wait until you start galloping." Richard said. "It's the best experience ever. It's the closest thing to freedom I can think of."

"I can think of something more close to freedom." Maura retorted

"Hit me with your best shot, smart-pants." He joked, he knew there was nothing closest to freedom than horseback riding.

"Hiding a horse. Naked." Maura said to Rick's surprise. He looked at her astonished, as if he couldn't believe what his ears had just hears. She giggled and punched him lightly on his shoulder.

"What was the punch for?" He asked pretending to be offended.

"You told me to hit you with my best shot."

Maura opened the house's door and stepped inside.

"Maura?" She heard Rick calling her from outside. She sticked her head out of the door. "I dare you to do it... Not now, but someday, I dare you to ride a horse naked."

She stepped out of her house with a determined look on her face.

"You got a deal, Mr. Rodgers." She extended her arm. "I expect the same from you, though." They shook hands

"I'll not let you down, trust me." Rick replied with a grin and then turned around to go to his house.

Horseback riding naked, who would thought Saint Maura had a perverted side. Maybe turning her into a party beast would be easier than what he thought it would be.


	5. Vs Sarcasm

So, here is chapter 5 :)

It's a little bit shorter, which bothers me, since all the others were above 1000 words and this is not. But I felt the need for update.

I also wanted to let you guys know that I'm not sure when I'll be able to write and upload the next chapter. I'm trying to finish one of my other fics so all my free time will be prioritized to that one.

Anyway, hugs!

Anna

* * *

Despite the fact that Maura didn't do anything that deserved detention time, she had decided to join Richard while he served his time. Truth was that she didn't have anything else to do, she had already read all the books she was supposed to read; she had even read all the book Rick had to read, and he was one year above her.

"Do you know who is Maria Sibylla Merian?" Maura asked breaking the silence.

"No." Castle replied, he was building a paper airplane.

"Do you want to know?"

"Sure," he said. "I bet she has a very interesting life."

"Maria Sibylla Merian was born on 2 April 1647 to a German-born naturalist and scientific illustrator. She received her artistic training from her stepfather. She remained in Frankfurt until..."

"Wow. You don't know what sarcasm sounds like." Richard interrupted her, still focused on his plane.

The boy shut one eye and aimed at the professor, who was sleeping.

"What are you doing?" Maura whispered.

Rick ignored her and imitated the conversation between a pilot and the control tower. After the airplane was given permission to take off, Rick threw the airplane, straight to the teacher's face. Maura watched in horror.

The airplane hit the teacher on the nose. He woke up, scared to death.

"RICHARD RODGERS!" The boy couldn't help but to burst of laughter. "DETENTION!"

"I am on detention, teacher." He replied completely calmed.

"Well, you just doubled your time." The teacher said angrily. "As for you, Miss Isles, one week for you!"

"But she didn't do anything!" Rick stood up. "She tried to stopped me but I didn't listen."

"I don't care." Rick's tightened grip only relaxed when he felt Maura's cold hand touching his. "You are dismissed. See you tomorrow."

Richard and Maura left the room in silence. He wanted to apologize, but he couldn't find the words to do so.

They walked towards his house without exchanging words. He knew Maura was not upset, he could somehow feel it. Maura was too good for him, she deserved a better friend. A friend who wouldn't get her into so much trouble.

The question was, could he be that friend? Could he change his ways to be the friend Maura deserved? Probably not. If Richard knew how to do something, was letting people down. He always did. Sooner or later Maura would realize what a loser he is and things would return to be the way they used to be. Rick would return to his old friend and Maura would return to her good grades.

Without inviting her to come in, Maura followed him into his room.

There was something wrong his is room. Somethings were not in place. And by somethings he meant all the furniture had been rearranged.

"I hope you don't mind. I reorganized your room." She said. Maura added that with the bed next to the window he'd wake up with the sunrise, that was 7am.

"Not at all. I didn't like the way my room was organized at all." He said trying to hide that he was mad. The point of having the bed on the other side of the room was exactly to sleep longer.

"Was that sarcasm?" She asked confused, making an allusion to their conversation during detention. He breathed in and out.

"No, Maur." Rick said honestly, remembering that a while ago he thought that she deserved a better friend. "I appreciate you worrying about me." He added with a smile.

"Good," the girl replied proud of her work. "I'll get going, then. I have to do some algebra."

"I thought you already studied everything you needed to learn for this year." Rick commented as he watched her leave.

He wanted to watch a movie with her. Maura always had the best movie recommendations, they were all so intriguing. It was like if she had a huge movie data base on her head.

"Oh, yeah." she replied from the door. "I'm learning what you are supposed to know."

"Where do you store so much information?"

She giggle and closed the door as she exited his room.

_Damn_, that Maura was really a character. Someone should make a TV show about her.


End file.
